Summer Time Deadline
by Winder
Summary: Ever since their parents died Dipper, Mable, and their adopted brother Bill have been living happily with their Grunkle Stan in boring old Gravity Falls. When on the first day of summer Bill suffers from a terrible headache that wakes a psychotic demon and with the twins not to far behind to follow in the madness, they discover that maybe it isn't a boring old sleepy town at all.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own GF/ Original idea is from ShadowPirateMonkey7 on Deviantart.

 **Pairings:** **Dipper/Bill** (In later Chapters, slowburn) ((While they may be 'brothers' in this story /Bill's adopted by the by/ I will make it work and make sense.))

 **Summary:** Ever since their parents died Dipper, Mable, and Bill have been living happily with there Grunkle Stan in boring old Gravity Falls. When on the first day of summer Bill suffers from a terrible headache that wakes a psychotic demon and the twins not to far behind to follow in the madness, they discover that maybe it isn't a boring old sleepy town at all. With demons, gnomes, secret societies, a protective Grunkle, and a literal deadline, this summer may be the most memorable yet. **SLASH!**

 **Warnings:** It will be gory at some points however and will have sexually related themes much later on.

Summertime Deadline

Chapter 1

Squinting down at the list in his hand Dipper silently swore to himself that this was the last time he was leaving Mable in charge of writing down all of the ingredients. Almost every inch of the torn up piece of lined paper that didn't have writing on it, was covered with sparkly, googly eyed, smiling stickers with colors bright enough to make his stomach turn. At the top his name was drawn up with big, bright loopy letters, a set of eyes and a smile inside the 'D' to make it more 'friendly' as his sister had put it.

That wasn't even the worst part however. The worst part was that it seemed that she just couldn't write down the proper names for anything. It left him standing in the middle of the grocery store with a basket in one hand and an almost unreadable list in the other while the sun outside slowly crawled its way from the horizon.

He knew that he still had a few hours before they all had to get back to make their ritual 'First Day of Summer' breakfast, and that their Grunkle wouldn't be up for another hour or so, but he was starting to wonder if he was going to be able to find everything in time.

Just what was 'one bag of sheep fur'? Sheep didn't have fur, they had wool. -and what in gods name was 'one box of children'? Just what kind of TV had Mable been watching recently? What could possibly be 'witch repellent'?

So far he'd been trying to decode the thing since Mable and Bill had gone on their own hunt ten minutes ago. He hadn't even gone down an isle yet. He had no idea which one to go down first. He didn't even know what they were making. After all, it was Mable's year to pick out the breakfast and as a rule they weren't allowed to know until it was served, but it sure would have made things a whole lot easier.

Puffing up his cheeks he lifted his gaze from his list. Turning his head one way he wondered if maybe he could just find Mable and ask her for help. The idea of Bill being able to crack her crazy code on his own however kept him rooted as he turned his gaze back down to the overly bright object.

"Sheep fur." He muttered out loud, hoping it would make more sense if he could just solidify an image in some way. His brows furrowed together as he came to the realization that it sounded just a ridiculous outside his head as it did in. Giving himself a small shake he finally took his first step to... who knew where, but at least it was something.

"Sheep fur. Sheep fur. Sheep fur."

The words were on repeat as he walked down the rows upon rows of food, trying to find anything that he figured would resemble sheep fur even just the slightest bit. Stopping in front of the baking section he glanced down at the list and than back up at the different bags of flour scattered on two separate shelves.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Of course Mable would call something like flour 'sheep fur'.

He couldn't stop the corner of his lips pulling up as he gave a roll of his eyes. Reaching out for a bright yellow bag he quickly dropped it into his basket and looked at the next thing on his list.

He still had no idea what a box of children or witch repellent was, and there were a few others that he couldn't even begin to wonder what they were supposed to mean, but maybe something would jump out at him as he wandered.

As he reached the end of the the isle and started to round the corner he nearly ran smack dab into someone else.

"Whoops! Sorry Pine Tree!"

Dipper found his attention not drawn to the person's face, but rather the item in their hand. He didn't even have time to say anything on it as the can was tipped upside down and a spray of the white fluffy whip cream was poured right into the others open mouth. Glancing down at Bill's own basket Dipper had to wonder just what they were making that required four cans of cream, two large bags of chocolate chips, 3 bags of jelly beans, and two packages of four, full bar, twix chocolate.

Was Mable trying to make them sick?

"I don't think you're supposed to do that Bill." Dipper said, drawing his attention away from the basket to his brother's face as said male finally lowered the now empty can.

"Sure ya are!" Bill said, carelessly tossing the item on an empty space of the shelf.

Subconsciously Dipper raised his hand to grab at the brim of his cap, fidgeting with it as a frown pulled at his lips.

"No, I'm sure it's against the law. It's stealing Bill."

"Only if you get caught!" The blond grinned, his one eye bright with this as if his words were a great joke. "Otherwise- Free game!"

Knowing he wasn't going to change the others mind Dipper snatched up the empty item and placed it in his own basket. Unsurprisingly Bill didn't seem to care what he decided to do as long as he wasn't the one lugging around the now useless item.

"You ready to go yet?" Bill asked, falling into step beside the other as he continued on his original path.

Glancing down at his list Dipper gave a quick shake of his head. "No, not yet. I still need... um, a few more items."

When a small snicker floated up from his companion Dipper turned to glare at him.

"You have no idea what's on it do you?"

Scowling at the fact that he was right, and that he knew he was, Dipper let out a low grumble. Really there was no point in trying to pretend that he knew anything that Mable was trying to get at. The more he would try and hide it the more Bill was bound to drag it out into the open and turn it into some form of humiliation.

"I may be a little stumped." He admitted.

"Here." Bill thrust out a hand, a slight smirk on his lips as he waited for Dipper to hand over the object that was held tightly in his grasp. Pressing his lips into a fine line the brunet clung to it even more. He wasn't even sure if the writing on it would be legible now no thanks to the slight sweat in his palms. "The sooner we grab the stuff the sooner we can go home." Bill sing sang, his fingers now wiggling like a spider waiting to catch it's prey. "We can't keep Stan waiting."

Not without great resentment did Dipper finally hand the sticker covered sheet over.

"Thank you Pine Tree."

He watched carefully as the smile on the others face softened, his one eye scanning over the list quickly while the tips of his soft, golden bangs gently brushed over the eye patch that covered his other one.

As he waited Dipper found his attention being held by the one thing that no one in the family ever really mentioned. The eye patch that Stan had given to Bill because he could actually use it. The eye patch that he wore that drew slightly less attention than what was hidden beneath it. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that it had almost been a year since the incident. Sometimes it still threw him off when he looked up at Bill's face and was greeted with one eye rather than two. He knew that, regardless of what Bill lead them all to believe, he wasn't over it.

It had happened on more than one occasion when Dipper would find him standing in the bathroom, his face blank as he stared into the mirror, the patch in his hand. While it was rare to witness, it did happen, and every time it did Dipper couldn't stop his stomach from twisting in guilt over the fact that it was his fault.

"Well looks like you already got the flour. Now we just need salt, eggs, cinnamon, and milk." As Bill turned his gaze away from the paper Dipper quickly tore his own gaze away from the wound and to the bright baby blue that clashed with his own honey brown.

"How on earth did you get that out of what she wrote?" He found himself asking, unable to tell if he was asking because he was really curious or if he was just trying to distract himself. It was probably a bit of both.

"Witch repellent is salt, everyone knows that if you've ever seen any supernatural type of movies. I mean it's in Hocus Pocus Dipstick." Bill said, his one eye rolling with an amused twitch of his lips. "A box of children is the eggs cause ya know... baby chicks."

"I'm going to have to talk to Mable about what she labels different food items." Dipper muttered under his breath. "Let's go get the salt and cinnamon and than grab the eggs and the milk."

"Okay!"

Snatching the bag of chocolate chips out of the others hands before he could rip it open Dipper waved a finger in his face.

"No more eating anything until we've paid for it." He scowled, earning himself a fake pout.

"DipDot! Dorito head!"

Both turned their attention away from each other at the call of their nicknames.

Mable was waving her hand in the air, her own basket bursting with a load of stuff that was brightly packaged. Dipper found himself momentarily distracted by that though as his attention was snatched up by the chocolate that surrounded her mouth. Even her fingers were covered with a thick coating of the gooey treat. Not for the first time Dipper wondered if he was the only mature one left in his family.

"Mable please don't tell me that you were eating too." He groaned as she drew closer.

"What?" Mable gasped, her eyes going wide as she pressed her hand against her chest in a mock show of innocence, smearing chocolate all over the bright yellow smiley faced sweater she wore. "I would never."

Giving her a flat look Dipper stared at her until her face finally broke out into a wide grin.

"Okay, okay. So I may have had one-or four- chocolate bars."

"Ya Shooting Star!" Bill cheered, raising his hand for a high five that she enthusiastically took part in.

"Oh my god." It was to early to deal with this. "Let's just get the rest of the stuff and get home."

"Aye, aye captain!" Mable cheered, throwing an arm around his shoulders as they all continued down to their next destination.

As Bill pulled up on his other side Dipper couldn't help the small smile that came to his lips as he walked between his two crazy siblings. As wild and crazy as the two of them could get he really wouldn't have it any other way.

(***)

"Happy First Day of Summer!"

Dipper couldn't help cheering along with the rest of them as their Grunkle walked into the kitchen.

Sitting on the table that they were surrounding sat a huge plate of... well Mable had said they were pancakes but Dipper wasn't sure they really classified as that anymore. Either way Grunkle Stan let out a gruff sounding laugh as he shuffled the rest of his way into the room, moving over to take his regular seat.

"That time of year already?" He asked, sitting down and immediately being given a plate with a good five or so questionable pancakes.

"Yup!" Mable grinned, handing out plates to everyone as Bill poured Stan a coffee and than grabbed a tea for himself. Dipper and Mable had just chosen to go with milk.

"Uh, time moves fast when you're old." He chuckled, his smile wavering just the slightest as he poked at the gooey mess covering his plate. "Um, what am I looking at here?" He asked.

"It's extra chocolate, sugar sweet, gooey center pancake surprise!" Mable cheered, popping up on his side with a can in her hand. "With an entire can of cream on top!"

Dipper had to hold back his laugh at the look over the man's face as he watched his granddaughter empty the entire content of the can on to his food.

"Oh. Wow. Looks good kiddo."

"Here Dipper." The words hadn't even finished passing Bill's lips before Dipper found his own pancakes being assaulted in much the same way. He found his mouth dropping open in horror as he watched the glob of dough and treats being hidden underneath a thick layer of the whipped cream.

Sitting back once the entire thing was emptied Bill raised the rim of his mug up to the smirk of his lips.

"There ya go Pine Tree."

"How am I supposed to eat this?" Dipper muttered to himself. He was sure even one bite would be sweet enough to make him hurl.

Hearing the slight cackle that came from beside him Dipper frowned at the satisfied smirk that was settled over his face. Without giving it much of a thought he dipped his fingers into the mess on his plate and smeared it all over Bill's face. Laughing as the other male jerked and sputtered, Dipper couldn't help the large smile that settled over his face.

"Oh no."

Briefly he could hear his Grunkle's view on the situation that was about to unfold, but Dipper was much more interested in watching as Bill wiped the mess away from his eyes. His one blue eye was narrowed into nearly a slit and the smile over his face was twisted in such a way that Dipper could feel a shiver of fear crawling down his own spine.

"You're going to regret that."

"Food fight!"

Grunkle Stan had been right. Oh no indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I can't believe that we have to clean this whole mess." Dipper grumbled, trying to scrub hard enough at the solid mess of, what use to be gooey pancake, and was now part of the table off of the glossed top.

"I can't believe that I have to help." Bill huffed, scrubbing at the floor with a little more power than Dipper thought was truly necessary. "I was just defending myself."

"Haha! Suckers!" Mable called from the next room.

"Hey! Be nice!" Bill shouted back before getting back to his own task.

As they lapsed into silence Dipper allowed his thoughts to wander. Really it hadn't been one of their worse 'First Summer' breakfasts, and he didn't even have to eat the monstrosity that Mable assured would be good for him. He knew that much sugar would have him running to the bathroom to empty his stomach. While he was sure it would taste somewhat good going down, such was not the case for when it decided to come back up. He wasn't a fan of ABC food, even less so when it was mixed with burning stomach acids.

Now that their ritual breakfast was over though, he was already going through a long list in his head. Other than working at the shop neither him or either of his siblings had really come up with anything to do for the whole summer. While Mable seemed to be going through her 'boy crazy' faze, Dipper felt as if there was something nagging at the back of him mind just waiting to be released on an adventure.

"Ouch!"

Snapping his head up Dipper took a quick glanced over his shoulder. His mind jumped into action when he saw a small splatter of blood across the floor and Bill cradling his hand against his chest. Before he even really knew what he was doing he quickly scrambled away from the table and over to his brother's side.

"Shoot Bill! Are you okay? What happened man?"

Placing a hand on the bright yellow of Bill's hood Dipper peered over the blond's shoulder. His stomach flipped at the sight of the blood seeping through the tight cracks of Bill's hands and running down his arm. Slapping a hand over his mouth before he could hurl all over his brother the brunet turned his head away, trying to give himself enough time to recover.

"I'm fine Dipper." Bill sighed. Oddly enough even though he was the one hurt he didn't seem to bothered by the sight. "Just got to close to the bottom of the cupboard and hit the edge."

"Do you need me to get you something?" Dipper asked, turning back to meet the bright baby blue and forcing himself to keep them there. He did not want to see that. That...that was a lot of blood. "Are you sure you're okay? Should I go get Grunkle Stan?"

A soft chuckle reached his ears, placing a feeling of calm over his rising anxiety.

"I'm fine." Bill repeated.

Not sure if he believed him or not Dipper carefully watched as Bill got up on his feet.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to ask Mable to patch this up quickly and than I'll come finish my part."

"Don't worry about it." Dipper shrugged, rocking himself to his feet as well. "I'll finish up here."

Bill was silent as he stared at Dipper. Although he would have thought that Bill would have been happy to hear about getting out of some extra work before they all went to real work he appeared more disappointed than anything. For the life of him Dipper couldn't think of why. There was a lot of other things he would have preferred to do this morning rather than clean up the kitchen.

"Alright. If you insist Pine Tree."

Dipper didn't take his eyes off the others back until he disappeared from his sight. Letting out a long sigh his gaze dropped to the blood that was still settled on the floor. His stomach gave a violent flip and he quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth while he turned his eyes away once more. Deciding that it was probably better to clean it up while it was still wet Dipper quickly made his way over to the other side of the counter and grabbed a whole hunk. Moving back to crouch down at the scene of the crime he quickly wiped it up and wasted no time in throwing it out. Without giving it a second thought he went over to the sink and gave his hands a hard scrub.

He knew that his reaction to blood was a little over the top, the kids at school teased him about it all the time, but they weren't the ones who ever had so much of it covering themselves that they wondered whether or not the person they were holding would live.

Shuttering as the thought crossed his mind Dipper pushed it all the way in the back, locking it away and turning his attention back to the task at hand.

"Hey kid."

Looking to the doorway to see his Grunkle, Dipper quickly took in the suit and the loose bow tie around Stan's neck.

"Where's your brother? I need him to do this up for me."

Dipper moved back over to finish his task with the table. "He cut his hand so he's getting Mable to look at it."

"Oh," Stan mumbled, walking further into the kitchen and looking around at the mess, "need any help?"

Dipper came to a slow stop with what he was doing while he turned a skeptical eye towards the man. It wasn't normally something he would suggest to help the kids out with one of their chores. It was the reason he gave them out in the first place, so that he wouldn't have to do them. There was something up with his Grunkle.

"Don't give me that look Kiddo." Stan grumbled as he placed his hands on his hips. "I just want to get you out of here as fast as possible so you can get the Shack ready to open."

Well, he supposed that, that made sense. As he turned back to his work Dipper gave a small nod of his head.

"Sure Grunkle Stan, that would be a big help."

"You know me. All about helping out my fellow man."

At this Dipper couldn't help but scoff. "Since when?"

"Watch it." Stan growled, trapping the boy in a loose choke hold and giving him a quick nuggie.

Laughter spilled passed the boy's lips as he gave a halfhearted struggle to get out of Stan's hold.

"I yield! I yield!" He yelped, unable to wipe the large smile from his face as he was released.

"Smart choice kid."

Sooner rather than later they had finished cleaning up. With that done they both headed into the living room, greeted with the sight of both Bill and Mable perched on the couch, muttering quietly back and forth to one another. When Mable saw them she gave a light hit to Bill's shoulder and their conversation ceased. Even though they were both smiling at them seconds later Dipper couldn't help the small frown that came to his lips.

It seemed to be that the two were doing that a lot lately.

Pushing his suspicion to the back of his mind, because really, these were his siblings, Dipper gave them a small smile back in turn.

"How's your hand Bill?" He asked, hopping up on the arm of the chair.

"All better now thanks to Shooting Star." Bill grinned, holding up his wrapped hand and wiggling his fingers.

"Alright kiddos." Grunkle Stan said, drawing all of their attention forward to where he stood in front of the TV's. "Now, this is the first day of summer break, which generally means that today will be one of the busies days of the year. Now I want you to go out there and be as adorable and charming as you can be."

"I got the adorable down pat!" Mable grinned, waving her hand around in the air.

"I've got the charm handled." Bill smirked, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Wouldn't ya think so Pine Tree?" He asked, giving a swavy wink to the boy, or at least, that's what Dipper assumed it was supposed to be. He wasn't going to draw attention to the fact that it was hard to tell when Bill only had one eye.

Still Dipper returned the supposed wink with a roll of his eyes as he placed a hand against Bill's face and pushed him away.

"I like the enthusiasm kids." Stan continued. "Just use that to convince these people to buy as much junk as possible."

"Alright! Team Pines!" Mable shouted, sticking her hand out, waiting for everyone else to join in. Dipper placed his hand on top of hers, followed by Bill's hand on his and than Grunkle Stan's on Bill's.

"Pines! Pines! Pines! Pines!"

Although their cheer was loud and obnoxious, the brunet couldn't help but smile at the grins over everyone's faces.

This wasn't a bad way to start the summer.

(***)

"And here we have the mysterious CatDog. Both a mixture of the life long enemies, cats and dogs. Now this one..."

Dipper tuned out the rest of what his Grunkle was going on about as he halfheartedly dusted away the snow globes and other various trinkets. That had to be about the sixth time that he had told that particular 'mystery'. Glancing up at the clock he was almost relieved to see that it was nearly noon. Soon he would be able to go on his break and get away from the people, and dusting, for a little bit. Lazily his gaze drifted up to Mable, seeing her halfway through her pitch about just why the costumer had to get the lucky chickens foot and the jar of 'werewolf away' cream. She was obviously pretty convincing if the half terrified look on the man's face was anything to go by.

Moving his attention to the cash he gave a pause in his dusting to watch as Bill all but flirted with the older woman while he rang in her stuff. From the large smile over her face he could tell whatever Bill was doing was getting the job done as she snatched up a few more items to add to her purchase. Although he couldn't hear what the other was saying from where he stood he could tell from the way that she glowed that it must have been some form of praise.

Not for the first time did Dipper envy the easy way in which his sibling could handle other people.

As he watched the woman walking away though he saw Bill's smile suddenly fall. His uninjured hand raised to rub at his forehead while his eyes closed tightly, a grimace coming over his face once he thought that no one was watching. Feeling his own brows drawing together Dipper placed down his feather duster and walked up to the cash.

"Hey man." He greeted, still startling the other even with his soft tone. "You okay?"

"Of course." Bill muttered, dropping his hand from his head and resting them both across the counter. "Just need a little time to recharge. I always forget how stupid these people are sometimes and just how easy it is to manipulate them. It just takes a lot of energy to keep smiling for boneheads."

"They're not all that bad." Dipper said, trying to defend the people but only earning himself a raised brow for his effort.

"Shooting Star is selling them 'ghost be gone', which, may I remind you, is the stuff Stan makes us dig out of the shower drain and stick in a jar." Bill muttered leaning heavily on the counter now.

"Okay, good point." Rather than continue on his failing attempts to defend the tourist that stopped by the shack he found his attention being drawn to Bill's hands. "Uh, I think you're aggravating your wound there Bill."

For a moment Bill just stared and blinked at him. Taking a quick glance down to his own hands he quickly pulled them away from each other.

"Doesn't it hurt to touch?" Dipper questioned turning his gaze to anywhere but the quickly reddening gauze wrapped around Bill's hand.

"Um, not..." Bill cut himself off with a sharp hiss. The sudden interruption made Dipper jump as he watched the blond raise his hand and press it to his forehead.

Not knowing what else to do he placed a hand on the bright yellow shoulder of his brother. "You okay?"

"Ya." Bill hissed, his one hand wrapped so tightly around the edge of the counter that his fingers were turning white while the heel of the other one was pressing with a vengeance against his forehead. "Just, ug, my-my head hurts."

Dipper moved around the counter and carefully made his way over to his brother's side.

"You want me to get you something? Water? Advil?"

Bill gave a sharp shake of his head. He'd never really like medicine, always telling people he'd prefer to suffer through the pain than take the chance of the side effects.

"Hey, what are you two doing? I don't pay you to sit around and loiter."

Had it been any other time Dipper would have pointed out that their Grunkle didn't pay them at all, however now was not that time.

"Somethings wrong with Bill."

This seemed to add a new sense of urgency to their Grunkle Stan's walk as he brought himself up to the counter in a few long strides.

"What's the matter kid? Is it your hand?"

"No." Bill hissed, his teeth clenched so hard Dipper could see the muscles in his jaw twitch.

"Okay, I'm going to take over from here Dipper." He said as he moved to Bill's other side and wrapped his arm around the smaller male's shoulders so he could hoist him up gently. "You entertain the idiots."

Dipper knew there wasn't anything he could do. He had no idea what was wrong with Bill in the first place. If he followed after them now he would just cause more of a nuisance of himself than be of any help.

"What happened?"

"Ahg!"

Placing a hand over his heart Dipper turned to glare at his sister.

"Jeepers Mable! Don't sneak up on people! I almost died!"

Mable reached out and gave him a solid punch against his shoulder. "Near death experiences build character." She muttered before nodding her head in the direction of where the other two had disappeared. "So what happened?"

Giving a shrug Dipper frowned. "I don't know. I think Bill just has a really intense headache."

"Or maybe there's an alien in his head!" Mable gasped.

"What? No- Mable." Dipper groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Look, whatevers wrong with Bill, I'm sure that Grunkle Stan will find out the real reason and be able to..."

Dipper found himself interrupted as a blood curling scream filled the shack. Everyone froze as all eyes snapped over to the doorway that Bill and Grunkle Stan had disappeared through minutes earlier.

Nothing but silence followed. It was so thick Dipper could pretty much feel it pressing down on him, holding him in place and preventing him from moving. He could feel his lungs struggling to get air, but couldn't seem to ever get enough as his pulse beat loudly in his ears. It nearly drowned out the sound of the people in the store screaming as they made a mad dash to the exit.

He jumped, reaching out an arm and blocking Mable behind him as a hand curled around the door frame.

It was Bill's hand, that much was made obvious by the bloody gauze wrapped around it, but something was wrong. The nails were longer, almost looking more like claws than anything, and they dug deep gouges into the wood as a body pulled itself around the corner.

Dipper gasped, making a move to step backwards but tripping over his own feet and accidentally pulling Mable down with him.

This wasn't Bill, or at least not their Bill, it couldn't be. For one, they were older looking, if Dipper had to guess, he would have had to say maybe seventeen, and he was...floating. As 'Bill that's not Bill' swung himself around the corner, a huge grin, that nearly split his lips apart from the stretch, overcame his face. Dipper gasped when with a single flick of his wrist a cane appeared in his hand while he leaned towards the two. There was a mad gleam in his eye as he leered down at them, and in the back of his mind Dipper found himself hoping that their Grunkle Stan was okay.

"Why hello there."

Both Dipper and Mable found themselves to frighten to respond by the sharp, crazy laughter that followed after.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"B-Bill?" The words fell passed his trembling lips, his mind still trying to catch up with him.

This-this couldn't be Bill. -But it was. How did that make any sense?

'Bill' gave out another of his sharp laughs, the sound grating on Dipper's ears as if it was nails running down a chalkboard.

"Don't be stupid Meatsack!" It cheered, the voice almost having an echo to it as he crossed one leg over the other, hovering in mid air. "The names Will."

"Will?" Mable muttered, having found her voice as she got on her knees and rocked forward to bring herself beside Dipper. "Bill what's going on?"

Once again Dipper raised his arm. He didn't know if there really was anything that he could do if this guy...Bill, or Will, decided to do anything. While he'd spent the last two years of his life living in the 'Mystery Shack' he'd never really come in contact with anything paranormal. This was so beyond his thinking. Dipper didn't even know where to start as he wondered just how this guy was pulling off a backwards summer-salt caused by his laughter in the air.

When he suddenly stopped laughing, apparently finding no reason to answer Mable's question, both of them stiffened as Dipper reached out and grabbed a hold of Mable's hand.

"You two are boring." Bill-Will concluded with a single nod of his head. "I'm gonna go find some real fun!"

Dipper threw his arm over his eyes as a bright light filled the entire room. By the time he managed to squint them open again, Bill was gone.

"What the... Dipper what's going on?"

Turning to his sister he couldn't think of anything he could say at the look that was settled over her face. He had no idea what was going on. What was he supposed to tell her?

"Let's find Grunkle Stan."

He didn't know what to do about Bill. He didn't even know where he was at this moment, but he had to find their Grunkle. Maybe he saw something, something that changed in Bill to make him like this. Maybe he would even know what was going on.

Earning a nod from his sister he got to his feet and pulled her up as well. With a quick glance he gave a look around the room. While he hadn't seen Bill that didn't mean that he couldn't be in the room at all. When his search came up empty he found himself relaxing, if only the slightest, before he pulled Mable towards the last place that he had seen their Grunkle.

As they rounded the corner Dipper wondered if they would have gone to the kitchen or the living room. Checking the living room on the way by he marked it off his list when he saw that it to was empty. As they entered the doorway for the kitchen both of them let out similar gasps of surprise.

Their Grunkle was there, but he was laying unconscious on the ground, his glasses squished in his face and his hat rolled off beside him.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mable cried, letting go of Dipper to run to his side. "Oh please be okay. Please be okay." She whispered, struggling to roll his much larger body over to rest on his back. "Dipper help me!"

Snapping out of his shock Dipper ran to her side and assisted her in her task. Once they got him on his back Mable dropped her head to his chest, pressing her ear close to listen for a heartbeat under the many thick folds of clothes.

"He's alive." She said, her voice loaded with relief as she pulled back.

Without having to be told Dipper jumped to his feet and filled up a cup with ice cold water. Running back to them he dumped the entire content all over the man's face. They each let out a sharp scream when their Grunkle bolted upright with a cry of his own.

He let out a series of coughs and hacks so hard that Dipper couldn't help but wonder if he was going to accidentally spit out his teeth.

It seemed to take him a moment to gather himself, but once he did his head snapped back and forth so fast that he could have given himself whiplash.

"Where'd he go?" He grumbled, giving out a sharp hiss as his hand reached up and rubbed at a sore looking lump on the back of his head. "The little brat's going to pay for that."

"Grunkle Stan something's wrong with Bill!" Mable shouted as she placed a hand on either side of the old man's face and turned him to face her. "He's floating Grunkle Stan! Floating!" She continued, shaking his head back and forth as if that would help her information stick. "What happened!?"

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Dipper gently pulled his sister away. It already looked like their Grunkle wasn't in the best of shape, her shaking him around probably wasn't going to help speed up matters at all. "Mable please." He was careful to keep his tone even, trying not to show the panic he was having inside to her. He was going to have to stay strong for her. On the other hand however...that's what they had their Grunkle for, and right now, he was very much freaking out. "He can make things appear out of thin air!" Dipper added, his calm demeanor thrown to the back while his one arm that wasn't holding his twin's hand waved around hazardously. "And he just disappears!" he continued.

"Ya! Like, one minute he's there and the next 'poof'!" Mable joined in, making a small explosion with her hands to help illustrate her point.

"Look," Stan said, reaching out to grab a hold of the table and hoist himself up. Dipper frowned as he watched the man rock from side to side before he found his balance, but by the way he was leaning against the table Dipper had no doubt he'd fall over if he took his hands off of his support. "at this point I know as much as you two do about the situation." He admitted. "I brought him in here to get some water. Than he screamed so I ran back to him but he had this wild crazy look on his face. After that I don't remember what happened."

"What do we do?" This time it was Dipper asking the question as he stared up at the older male.

For a moment Stan said nothing. He simply placed a finger on his chin while his eyes narrowed in thought. When he gave a nod of his head Dipper knew that he'd at least come up with something.

"To be honest I don't really know, but whatever we do, we have to get him back to the Shack first."

"Okay." Dipper agreed. It might have been a better idea to tackle things one at a time, and only after they got a hold of Bill would they be able to find out what was wrong.

"So," Mable continued with a frown over her face as she turned her large brown eyes to Grunkle Stan, "how do we find him?"

"Uh..."

Well, that might be one of the things that they really wanted to figure out first. There was no telling where Bill would go. He had said that Mable and Dipper were boring, and so he was going to have to find something else to do, but they were in Gravity Falls. That didn't leave much of anything.

"I'm sure he'll be easy to find." Grunkle Stan muttered as he made an attempt to push himself away from the table.

"Grunkle Stan!"

They both moved just in time. Catching him before his legs could collapses beneath him. Carefully moving him back towards the table they sat him down.

"We'll go get Bill." Dipper said, ignoring the glare he received from the man in turn.

"No way." Stan muttered, making a move to get back up only to be pushed back down. "I'm not letting you kids go out there to deal with that. I don't know what that is, but it's not your brother."

"You can't come with us Grunkle Stan." Mable insisted, "You can't even walk all that well." She added in, patting his shoulder for good measure. "We'll be back before you know it."

Dipper nodded in agreement with his sisters words. While he didn't know just what they could do, he knew that there was no way their Grunkle would be able to help them out. He might have been one tough old man, but he wasn't invincible.

"Come on Mable." Dipper said, pulling on his sister's hand to try and help usher her through the door.

"Kids don't..!"

"We'll be right back!" Dipper called from over his shoulder as they made a mad dash out of the kitchen and through the house.

Sharing a quick glance with one another Dipper and Mable quickened their pace at the sound of the man's rage from down the hall. For just a split second Dipper was happy that he was to injured to go after them. He didn't even want to think about the punishment they were going to get for leaving him behind and diving head first into a dangerous situation.

Once they stepped outside they were greeted by the sight of Bill, and all thoughts of their Grunkle were pushed to the wayside. It seemed that he hadn't traveled to far, which was good Dipper supposed but he didn't know how standing outside the shack was any better than standing inside it. Honestly there was nothing to look at for miles but trees...and a totem pole he supposed, still, nothing much of any interest.

"Bill!"

When Mable called his name he gave a halfhearted look over his shoulder. Upon seeing the twins standing at the shops opening the twisted grin settled back over his lips.

"I know there's a town here." He purred, slowly turning around to face them. "I can see it." He continued, "but I don't know which way to go."

Well that was odd. Bill had walked into town countless times before, he should have had no problem finding his way there. If this guy wasn't really Bill though and was actually...Will, whoever the heck that was, than what had happened to his brother?

"Why would you want to go into town anyways?" Mable tried, a nervous smile coming to her face as she waved her hand out and let go of Dipper's. "I mean it's so boring out there. Nothing but old buildings and even older people." She continued. "And we know how boring old people are, I mean look at Grunkle Stan." Placing a hand to her mouth she staged whispered over to Bill. "I mean his idea of fun is sitting on the couch and scratching his butt. Not very fun."

At these words Will just howled out in laughter, his arms wrapping around his stomach as he kicked his feet up in the air. Dipper realized a little to late that Mable was walking closer, her hands held out before her in a sign of surrender.

"So Bill..."

"It's Will." The blond corrected.

"Oh right, silly me, Will," Mable said, shuffling forward with tiny steps. "Maybe you don't have to go out to town. We could just stay here and play board games!" She suggested. "Or we could play tag!"

"There's a reason they're call 'bored games' Sapling." Will scoffed as he straightened himself out. "Tag on the other hand," He mused, a small smile creeping to his lips as he held his hands out to his side, "that sounds like it could be fun."

Dipper didn't like the light in Will's eyes as he said those words.

Both of them jumped before their mouths slipped open in slacked jawed shock when a bright yellow fire leaped from seemingly nowhere and into his hands.

This guy had fire too!? How in the world did that make sense? Did he just create it? What on earth were they...

"Oh mygosh." Mable gasped, her eyes lit up in wonder, the flames seeming to only draw her closer. "You have fire." She said, her lips pulling back to form a wide smile of her own while her hands came up to clasp together. "You have magic!"

Although Bill-Will, had been showing signs of magic since he'd come around the corner, Dipper raised a brow at the fact that his sister was just catching onto this now. Regardless of the fact that he was also awed that apparently stuff like that was real, he was also seeing the pressing danger it was presenting them with. Something told him that this guy wouldn't hesitate to turn them into human barbecue if he so wished, and Dipper had the sinking feeling in his stomach that he was intending to do just that.

"Mable let's go." Dipper said, grabbing a hold of his sister's hand to pull her back to his side. "I don't think we want to play his version of tag."

"But look at how cool that looks Dipper!" Mable grinned, their conversation thankfully interesting enough to hold Bill's...Will's attention long enough that he wasn't set on frying them both just yet. "Will!" Mable quickly called, turning her full attention to him and causing him to cock his head to the side. "What else can you do?"

Shocked by his sister's question Dipper felt himself paling. "Mable!"

"Oh, I can do lots of things!" Will cheered, closing his hands into tight fist. Dipper felt horror filling up in his chest to wrap around his heart as the fire got even brighter. "Wanna watch me burn down the forest?"

"Bill no!" Dipper shouted out, reaching for his brother as he turned his back on the two.

"Bill yes!" Mable yelled, her hands also clenched in front of her as a large smile grew on her lips.

Will just let out a cackle of laughter as he thrust out his hands and fire exploded from them like a flame thrower, engulfing the first few trees in a wave of yellow flames.

Eyes going wide at the sight before him Dipper almost couldn't hear his sister oohing in awe beside them. He had to stop this. If Bill started setting fire to the forest it could spread everywhere, eventually to the town itself and could have it burned down in a couple of minutes. He couldn't let that happen.

Without giving it so much as a second thought Dipper charged at his brother's back and tackled him to the ground. The blond let out an enrage screech, the distraction somehow dousing out the fire. While Dipper would have normally loved to try and figure out just how that worked, he had bigger things to deal with as the one beneath him thrashed.

"Get off of me you meatsack!" He screamed, enraged as Dipper held on for dear life.

"Not until you calm down!" Dipper shouted back. "Mable!" He called, looking over his shoulder for his sister. "A little help!?"

Turning his head away from the other was a mistake, one that Dipper sadly realized a little to late. As he was faced the other way, Bill pushed himself up and threw his elbow back, landing it right in Dipper's stomach. Having the wind knocked out of him the smaller male curled into himself, wrapping an arm around his waist while he gasped for air. He didn't get much time to recover as a hand was raised to him and he was hit by a wave of...something. He couldn't see anything, but it had enough force to throw him off of the blond and send him rolling to the feet of his sister.

"Dipper!" Mable cried, dropping to her knees to gather him up in her arms.

As he collected himself Dipper raise an arm, hoping to cover Mable as he turned a glare back at Bill. The blond had already climbed to his feet, his once spotless clothing now covered in dirt and dust. His face was consorted into one of such rage that Dipper could feel his stomach roll with nerves. As quick as the look was there however it was gone, replaced by a half crazed grin as the creature let out a burst of laughter.

"That was fun!"

Oh dear god.

"Looks like I was wrong about you two after all!" Bill continued, his cane appearing again if only so he could twirl it around. "We should make up are own game!" He suddenly concluded with a snap of his fingers.

"Like what?" Mable asked, her voice now void of all awe.

"We're not playing games Bill."

"It's Will." Will hissed once more, his eye rolling in annoyance. The smile was quick to come back to his face however when the roll of his eye allowed him to catch sight of the top of the shack. "I think I just found out our new game!" He grinned, jabbing a pointed finger in the direction of the roof. "Whoever can eat more of those yummy looking letters wins!"

Both Mable and Dipper had to cover their eyes once more at the bight light that filled their vision. Blinking the dots before their eyes away Dipper turned to his sister.

"You don't think he means..."

"I'm afraid he means just that."

"Well," Mable gave a shrug of her shoulders as she turned her gaze back to the roof., "what's the worst that could happen? I mean at least he'll have a high amount of fiber."

"Mable, eating chunks of wood is not at all good for you! It could end up poking through his organs! Or he could break his teeth! Or fill his mouth with splinters!" Dipper explained, waving his hands around his head as if that would help sell his point.

"Yeesh I get it. No need to be so graphic." Mable cringed.

Jumping to their feet the kids rushed back into the house.

"Whoa! Hey where are you going!?"

Easily dodging their Grunkle while at the same time making sure they didn't knock him over, Dipper continued forward.

"We gotta stop Will before he eats the letters to the Mystery Shack! We'll be right back! Bye!" Mable yelled out quickly as they dashed up the stairs. "Did you notice I made that rhythm? Ha ha!"

"Mable now is hardly the time!"

"Right, sorry!"

Bursting into Mable's room, Dipper was nearly blinded by the boy band posters and the glitter that was covering- everything. Sometimes he forgot how... creative his sister was. Being careful not to trip over any of the stuffed animals she had laying hazardously around her room, or the sharp thumbtacks that just seemed to be everywhere, they both bolted to the window. Mable didn't even hesitate to shove all of her plastic figures of smiling stars and big eyed kittens from the seal to the floor before she threw the window open.

"Come on!"

Crawling out after her Dipper nearly slipped the second his foot rested on the roof. Mable quickly reached out and grabbed a hold of his vest, helping him keep his balance as she tugged him forward.

"No time for slip ups Dipdot."

Together they carefully shimmied around the thin parts of the roof and towards their destination.

"Bill! I mean Will!" Dipper shouted as the one they were looking for appeared in their sight. "Stop what you're doing right now!"

"What took you two so long!?" Will cheered, swinging his cane around in a wide arch as he sat up from his lunging position.

Blinking at the fact that all of the letters looked relatively undamaged Dipper slowly lower his soft brown eyes to the one in question.

"You waited for us?" He mumbled, raising a brow as the other tasked.

"Well ya. I mean how am I supposed to rub it in your faces that I won if you don't really think you've lost?"

"He's got a point." Mable said, jabbing her thumb in Bill's direction.

"Of coarse I do meatsack!" Bill cheered. "Now lets begin!"

"No!"

Dashing forward Dipper tackled Bill once more, his arms wrapping around the others waist and taking him down to the roof of the shack. The momentum carried them towards the edge, and Dipper tried to make them stop. Letting go of Bill he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up on his knees. Rolling only a few more times, Bill was only a few feet away from the edge as he came to a stop on his back.

As he got to his feet Dipper swung his hands out to try and steady himself, giving a thankful smile to his sister when she came to his side and wrapped and arm around his waist to keep him from falling over. Next they both turned their attention to Bill as he let out a bust of hysteric laughter, sending a chill down their spines and creating goosebumps across their flesh.

"You're sure a fan of physical contact eh kid?" He snickered.

As he rolled onto his own unsteady feet his shoulders curled in and his smile showed off his shockingly sharp teeth. Dipper didn't remember his teeth being so sharp before, but than again there seemed to be a lot going on with Bill that he'd never seen before. Bill took a step back, his balance not quiet there yet as he pointed a finger at the two siblings.

"Ah, I'm starting to receive them now." He purred, his body swaying gently as his other foot came out to the side to help him stay up right. "You're Mable." He grinned, and Dipper tightened his hold on his sister as if that would be able to stop anything that could happen. "And you." He continued, taking another step back as his shoulders moved to the opposite side. "You, you're Pine Tree."

Never before in his life had he ever hated hearing that nickname. For nearly the past year now Bill had been calling him Pine Tree. It was a name that he'd gotten from the hat he'd brought just for Dipper to try and cheer him up after the incident, and Dipper had always been fond of it. However, even though this guy looked somewhat like their Bill, hearing it from him just sounded so wrong. Like hearing a baby swear or drinking orange juice after brushing his teeth. It just wasn't right and left a bad taste in the back of his throat.

Not seeming to care about either of their tense forms Bill continued. "I've heard so many thoughts about you." Bill grinned.

When he threw his head back in laughter, Dipper finally realized something. Bill was way to close to the edge.

"Bill watch..!"

His words ended in a scream of horror as Bill fell off the roof.

"BILL!"

Mable screaming so close to his ear nearly left it ringing, but Dipper couldn't find it in himself to care about that as he joined his sister in sprinting to the other side of the roof. Peering over the edge he hoped that it wasn't going to be as bad as what his mind was coming up with. Bill's mangled body laying bleeding and broken on their yard was not something he ever wanted to see, but he still had to see if there was some way that Bill was okay.

He found himself gasping for air he didn't know he needed when he saw the blond. He was on his hands and knees, giving a shake of his head as if someone had only hit him in the face and he hadn't fallen off the roof.

"Oh my god." Mable whimpered, a few tears slipping from her eyes as her hand clenched at the fabric over her heart. "He's okay."

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders Dipper gave a quick wipe to his own eyes. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He couldn't lose Bill, not again. His heart had just about stopped when he saw him go over the edge. He couldn't even figure out how he had survived, he was just grateful that he had.

"Ow." Bill giggled, pushing himself to his feet and shaking himself out. "Pain is hilarious."

Dipper didn't like the grin that came over the blond's now bruised up face. "I wanna do that again."

"Dipper we have to do something." Mable cried as she got to her feet and pulled at his hand. Tears were still pouring from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks, her ever present smile nowhere to be seen on her face. Dipper could tell that any happy feelings she had about this situation were completely gone, replaced with the need to make sure that Bill wasn't going to kill himself.

"Well talking to him isn't working." Dipper mumbled, getting to his feet and quickly making his way back to Mable's bedroom window. "We have to figure out something else."

Dashing back through her room and down the stairs Dipper wondered just where his Grunkle Stan had gone when he didn't see him in the hallway. They were just about to run back outside when something bright and red caught Dipper's attention from the doorway. Making a back dash and allowing Mable to continue forward without him, he brought himself to a stop just outside the doorway of the kitchen. All the color drained from his face and his body froze in horror upon the sight before him.

With a maniacal smile across his face, Bill held a fork in one hand, and used it to stab at his other arm. He could feel the bile raising up in his throat at the sight of the thick red liquid that was splattered across the counter and the floor, some of it dripping down the cupboards and some of it coating the wall. He brought a hand to his mouth at the sight of the mangled flesh that Bill kept taring into over and over again.

When he went to grab at the frame for support, his knees suddenly weak and his head light, Bill turned to stare at him. That laughter spilled passed his lips again, his task suddenly forgotten as he dropped the utensil with a noisy clatter onto the counter top. As he started to approach Dipper stumbled backwards, not stopping in his mad attempts to get away until his back hit the wall behind him.

He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest, he could pretty much hear his blood singing in his veins as Bill placed his hand over his wound, digging his fingers around in it until his hand was covered in a thick layer of the scarlet liquid. His body refused to move, caught in a frozen panic as the hand reached out towards him.

"Lighten' up Brobro!" Bill grinned, pressing the hand to his face and smearing the blood all over.

Dipper felt his stomach roll violently as the air bit into the warm liquid, quickly cooling it while it dripped down his face.

He couldn't do anything as he just stood there. His voice had left him, his mind was running in a million different directions and not finding a way out. His whole body was to tense to even move so much as a finger. Never before in his whole life had he ever been afraid of his brother. Right now, Bill was the worst thing his nightmares could come up with.

His heart stopped as a smirk came across the others face, a few flecks of blood coloring his bruised covered cheeks as he brought his hand up again to tap on Dipper's already blood covered cheek.

"Pineee Treee." He sing sang, his calming tone more terrify than anything else Dipper had heard today.

A sudden thud rang through the air and for just a moment the whole world seemed to pause. Without even thinking about it Dipper's arms reached up to grab Bill when he stared to fall forward. Looking over the shoulder of his brother Dipper couldn't stop the wave of relief at the sight of Mable, holding a frying pan.

Without a word to each other Mable dropped the pan to the floor and made a move to help her twin.

"Sorry Bill." She mumbled under her breath as they started to drag him back to the kitchen. Once they had him seated she finally turned to the other brunet. "You okay Dipper?"

Really he couldn't think of anything to say because no, no he was not okay. But how he was feeling right now didn't matter, because they needed to help Bill.

"I'll be fine Mable." He muttered, turning a quick glance to his sister to scan her over. "How about you?"

"I'm freaking out a little bit." Mable admitted, her voice on the edge of hysteria herself as she brought up her hands to pull at her hair, if only to ground herself a little bit so she didn't completely break. "What do we do now?"

"First we have to make sure he's not going to bleed to death."

Snapping their heads around to look at the one who had spoken the kids let out a cry of relief to see their Grunkle Stan. He was holding something in his hands that Dipper had never seen before. It was an old, tattered looking book with the number one written in black with a six fingered golden hand placed on the leather cover.

"And than I'm going to have to tell you kids some things."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bill jolted awake with a scream on his lips. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was breathing so hard it hurt. Actually, his whole body hurt, his arm especially. He felt as if someone had smashed him in the back of the head with a baseball bat and his stomach rolled at the way that his vision spun. When he tried to move his hand in order to cradle his head he felt panic start to choke him when they couldn't move more than a few inches.

Looking down at his hands he gasped at the sight of them tied to the bed with chains.

He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. It was to familiar. It remind him to much of the hospital. Of the time during and after. Of them securing him down so that he wouldn't hurt himself.

"M-Mable!" He screamed, pulling at his bonds in a frantic attempt to get them off. "Mable help!"

Not even seconds after the words had left his mouth did the door to his and Dipper's room burst open. Although tears blurred his vision he could still see his sister was there. Standing in the doorway in all her glittering glory. Something was wrong though. She had a pan clutched tightly in her hands, and her eyes were wide with worry and fright. Dipper was right behind her, and he too had also armed himself with a different item. Dipper held a long handled ax in his hands. The one that each of them had spent countless hours of cutting through logs with for fire in the winter.

"Guys?" His voice wavered, hot tears sliding down his cheeks as he took in the sight before him.

"Bill!" Mable shouted, the pan dropping from her hands with a loud bang. As she went to make a move forward she was stopped by Dipper who had grabbed her elbow.

"Mable don't! This could be another trick!" He hissed.

Trick? What trick? Why would Dipper think that Bill was going to trick them? Were those weapons to be used against him? Was the fear over there faces because of him? Why? What had he done?

"We're not falling for it Will!" Dipper growled, his gaze narrowed to mere slits and the utter loathing in his eyes piercing deeply into Bill's heart like a dull tipped blade.

"Pine Tree?" The name left his lips in a near quiet whisper, it's volume being suffocated by the malice in the boy's gaze.

"Don't call me that." Was the hiss of a reply that he got in return.

Choking on a sob Bill tried to shake his hands loose from the chains that held him to his bed. He had no idea what was going on, or why it seemed that everyone hated him so much, but he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. He wanted it to stop.

"Dipper!" Mable cried out, ripping her arm away from her brother. "That is Bill! Not Will!"

"How do you know that Mable?" Dipper snapped back. "He did this before remember?" Turning his attention away from his sister he turned his sharp gaze back to the one on the bed. "We're not falling for it again Will."

"I don't know who Will is!" Bill cried out in desperation. "Please guys, you have to believe me!" His shoulders shook as he pulled his legs up against his chest.

He wished that his head wasn't swimming, he wished that his whole body didn't hurt so much, he wished that his sister and Dipper would tell him what was going on. He was in so much pain, and he didn't like the look of fear over their faces. Fear that was apparently caused by him. It just looked so wrong, and it hurt more than all of the pain he was in to know that they would believe that he would bring that upon them.

"Please." The word was choked and small, a desperate plea that he was sure would fall on depth ears.

When warms arms wrapped around his shoulders and a chin was placed on top of his head he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He'd never realized just how terrifying it would be to have people turn their backs on him until they were given the choice.

"Sh, it's okay Bill." Mable cooed, stroking a hand through his hair as he cried in the crook of her shoulder.

"It's really you?"

Mable pulled back to give him enough room to look at the one who had spoken. Dipper was standing next to his bed now, the ax still held tightly in his grip as his gaze locked with Bill's bright blue eye. It felt as if he was trying to look into Bill's soul, trying to see if there was anything hiding that would pop out and strike him. Seeing how much the other feared him broke Bill's heart as he gave a small nod of his head.

With a loud clank the ax was dropped to the ground and Dipper was on the bed, wrapping Bill up in a hug so tight that it hurt.

"Oh thank god." He muttered, repeating the words over and over again like they were the only thing to keep him grounded.

When Dipper pulled back both of the Pines twins started right away with undoing the chains. Bill found himself letting out a small sigh, the panic settling just the slightest amount in his chest as he brought up his hand to wipe at his eye. Finally taking a chance to look himself over Bill felt his stomach twist upon seeing that his one arm was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze while every other inch of skin was covered in bruises and scrapes.

"What happened to me?" The words tumbled passed shaking lips as he tore his gaze away from himself and to Mable and Dipper.

"We don't know." Mable said, her words small and quiet while her hands moved up to start braiding a small portion of her hair.

"Grunkle Stan thinks you may have been possessed." Dipper said, a tight frown over his face as he crossed his legs. "What's the last thing that you remember Bill?"

Possessed? What? Like the stories that they told people? The 'legends' of Gravity Falls? There was no way any of that stuff was real. It was just stupid stuff that they told stupid people in order to sell stupid things. Besides, what on earth would he ever be possessed by?- and why would Dipper believe any of this? Wasn't he the one with his head shoved in all those fact books all the time?

"Bill?"

Shaking his head out to try and clear it just a little bit more Bill thought back on Dipper's words.

"Um, I remember my head hurting." Licking at dry lips he kept his gaze on his lap as he tried to recall just what had happened after that. "I remember you coming over to ask if i was okay and than I remember Grunkle Stan taking me to the kitchen and than... nothing. I-I don't..." Trying to force himself to recall anything from after that moment caused a sharp hiss to slip passed his lips and a splitting pain in the back of his skull. Bringing his hands up to cradle his head he could hear the others calling out his name and felt a pair of warm hands wrap around his upper arms to help keep him sitting upright.

"-ll? Bill are you okay?"

Dipper's voice helped to anchor him back, helped to clear his head again as his vision slowly returned.

"I'm fine." He muttered. "I'm sorry but I, I can't remember anything else."

"That's probably a good thing."

At Mable's words Bill looked back up at his sister. She looked different than what he had remembered this morning. Her clothes were covered in dirt and... were those singe marks? She had a brightly colored yellow with hot pink pokeidot bandied on her cheek and taking a glance down at her hands he saw that they looked a little more banged up than they normally did after her craft sessions. He normally neatly styled hair was also a tangled mess and not even her headband was sitting on straight.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat he turned to Dipper.

For once Dipper wasn't wearing his signature pine tree hat that Bill had gotten for him last year. That in itself was an odd thing to see considering that fact that he pretty much never took it off anywhere that he went. He was also covered in a strange array of cuts and bruises, his arms and knees mostly and his shirt was ripped in about one or two places. Bill felt his heart jump into his throat when he took in the sight of what appeared to be quiet a bit of blood on the side of Dipper's face. It looked as if there had been more and he'd just quickly scrubbed it off, but even still Bill found his hands shooting out on their own accord.

Dipper gave a violent jump, shooting himself out of Bill's reach and out of the bed so quickly that golden fingertips left barely a feather light touch against his cheek. His brows drew together and his heart clenched in his chest as the wide eyes of terror across the brunet's face. Dipper was afraid of him. No, he was down right terrified of him.

Slowly Bill lowered his hands back to his lap. He found that no matter what he tired he couldn't take his eye off of Dipper. He was afraid that if he did, the boy would simply bolt.

"I'm sorry Dipper." Dipper flinched at the words as if Bill had taken a strike at him. "You, you've got some blood on your..." Unable to finish his words Bill just raised one of his hands and motioned to his cheek.

Dipper's hand slowly came up to rub at his own face. Feeling the dryness of the blood flaking off he quickly started to scrub at it.

Unable to watch anymore a blue eye turned to Mable in question. She didn't hesitate to take his hands in hers and helped to center him again.

"I, I didn't... that, that wasn't me right? I didn't hurt..."

"It's not my blood Bill." Dipper said, taking a seat back on the bed and locking his gaze with the other. "It's yours."

Dropping his gaze back to his bandaged arm Bill felt a sense of panic sliding up his throat and choking him.

"What happened?"

Pulling his legs onto the bed and crossing them over each other Dipper reached out and gently rested his hand on Bill's shoulder.

"It doesn't matter." He said, a small smile fighting to stay on his face. "You're back for now and that's all we care about."

Bill felt a frown pull at the corners of his lips as he pushed Dipper's hand off of his shoulder. Normally he would have found their contact comforting, but it just felt wrong. He felt as if he could feel their fear, their pity, their mistrust as if it was oozing out of them and into him. They shouldn't have had any reason to be afraid of him. He'd always made sure to watch out for them both just like they watched out for him. Regardless of what Dipper was trying to tell him he knew that they were still seeing whoever or whatever this Will thing was when they looked at him. He had to know what happened, if only so he could understand how he could fix it.

"'For now'? What do you mean 'for now'? Guys what happened? Why would you think I was possessed?"

"Well..." Mable turned to her brother as she pressed the tips of her fingers together. The two seemed to share something between them and soon enough she was turning her attention back to Bill. "So after Will knocked out Grunkle Stan..."

"I did what?"

"He came to me and Dipper and than ran outside. He was flying and setting things on fire with his hands. Than he went to burn down the whole forest but Dipper tackled him. He went to try and eat the letters of the shack but we stopped him there to and he... well he fell off the roof..."

That would explain why his body hurt pretty much everywhere. How had he even survived that? From the top of the shack to the bottom was a long way down from someone of his size, for anyone one at all unless they knew what they were doing.

"Than when we tried to find you-him! When we tried to find him again he was in the kitchen, um... doing something to his arm."

Glancing down at the bandages that was settled over his arm Bill could feel his stomach roll. Sure he couldn't see it, but he could feel there was something very wrong about it. His whole arm was throbbing and screaming in pain since he'd first regained consciousness. He wasn't sure he was going to have the stomach to look at it later but regardless he knew that he'd do it eventually. After all, it couldn't be any worse looking than the empty socket of his eye.

"Dipper was the one who found him and Will smeared blood all over his face. I knocked him out with a frying pan... sorry about that by the way." From the wince on her face Bill figured that that was the reason his head was throbbing so badly. She was probably lucky that she hadn't killed him but from the sounds of it his body had survived worse.

"It's fine Shooting Star." He muttered, waving on for her to continue.

"Right... well Grunkle Stan came in after that and he...he told us the truth about Gravity Falls."

The truth about Gravity Falls? What could there possibly be to hide in this place that they didn't already know? They had grown up here for the last two years and before that they had come to visit him pretty much every summer. There was literately nothing to be truthful about other than calling false on the 'best pie in the world' sign on the Greasy Dinner.

"This town is chalk full of supernatural weirdness." Dipper said, breaking Bill out of his thoughts. "Gnomes, vampires, giant bats, zombies, ghosts, you name it Gravity Falls has got it."

"That's impossible."

"Dude, you were just all like 'I am Will! Bow before me!' a few hours ago." Mable put in with a wave of her hand.

Brows drawing together with a frown Bill slowly pulled his knees up to his chest. Wrapping his arms around them firmly he tried to take it all in.

He honestly couldn't remember anything, and the idea of someone else in his body, controlling it and scaring the shit out of his family and friends. The fact that there was nothing that he could do to stop it. He'd blacked out for hours, there was no telling what Mable hadn't talked about. There was no telling just what she left out to spare him the guilt. He could have really hurt them. He could have killed them.

What if it hadn't been him who had fallen off the roof? What if it had been Mable or Dipper? What if he had killed Grunkle Stan rather than just knocked him out? What would he do if they hadn't been able to stop him? Just what kind of scene would he be waking up to rather than this?

"Will it happen again?" His words were muffled by his knees, and from the look across the other two's faces he could tell that they hadn't been able to make out what had been said. Clearing his throat he lifted his head up and repeated himself. "Could it... is there...w-what just happened, could it happen again?"

"Bill I'm sure it was just a one time..."

"Yes." Stan's voice cut through the rest of Mable's words with such an air of finality that Bill felt his stomach sink.

Slowly each of the kids turned to their Grunkle to see him standing in the doorway.

His eyes were narrowed sharply, looking over every inch of Bill's face as if he was looking for something microscopic. His whole form was tense, like he was ready to pounce into action at any second if the situation called for it. He didn't have a weapon in his hands like the others had, but he was holding some sort of thick book that Bill had never remembered seeing around anywhere. As he continued to stare Bill pressed himself against the headboard and tried to sink into the bed. Sure his Grunkle wasn't armed, but Bill had never seen that look over his face before, and that in itself was enough to set him on edge.

"Dipper, you're in Mable's room tonight."

"But Grunkle Stan I..."

"Don't argue with me kid." Stan said, his voice a low growl as he finally tore his gaze away from Bill to stare at his other grandson. "For once just do as you're told."

The twins turned back to Bill, tears in their eyes as they wrapped him up in a tight hug. Hugging them back hurt his arm from the presser against it, but Bill barely even noticed it. Feeling them pull away hurt even more anyways.

"We'll be upstairs if you need us." Mable smiled, the action soft and fond, as if he hadn't just been a raging possessed person harassing them a few hours ago.

Unable to speak Bill just gave a nod of his head. He watched in silence as Dipper grabbed a few of his things and left with his sister hand in hand. When he went to pass their Grunkle, Stan passed Dipper the book without a word. As they stepped out of the room Grunkle Stan carefully closed the door behind them. Hearing the soft click of the door shutting made something in Bill's gut clench, but he worked hard to keep himself from panicking. If anyone was to know anything about what had happened it would be their Grunkle.

Nothing was said between the two, and Stan's hand didn't drop from the door handle, nor did he lift his gaze from the part of the floor that he was staring at. Bill wasn't about to break their silence however and just continued to carefully watch him. He didn't blame the man for needing a moment to collect his thoughts, but deep down he could feel the dread start to creep up.

What if Stan didn't think he was safe to be around the others anymore? What if he put Bill in the foster care system? He wouldn't do that, would he? Stan had always been fiercely protective of all of them, every since they had first shown up on his doorstep. Bill knew that any other circumstance the thought never would have even crossed his mind, but this was different. Bill was a threat to them now, one that even Bill himself couldn't control. Besides he was adopted, he didn't have that blood related bond to anyone in the family, what if Grunkle Stan decided that, that meant he shouldn't have to be his problem?

Really Bill couldn't blame him if that's what he decided to do. That fact didn't make it any easier to stomach though.

A deep inhale of breath filled the silence and Stan rolled his shoulders back, his mind apparently made up in a plan of action as he turned back to Bill.

"How'er ya feeling kiddo?"

Bill was to tense, every muscle in his body was being held so tight he was actually shaking. He couldn't push the words passed his locked jaw if he wanted to. He didn't want to be sent away. He didn't want to have to leave Dipper. He didn't want to leave his sister, or his Grunkle, or Gravity Falls. He didn't want to be placed in the system again, bouncing around from home to home with people who didn't care at all about him. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone, he hadn't meant to scare them.

"Hey,"

Snapping himself back to his current situation Bill locked his gaze with his Grunkle's at the soft word.

"Bill it's okay." The gruff man cooed, sitting on the edge of the bed as Bill's hand tightened around the sheets by his legs. "Just breath for me there kid."

It was only after he said those words that Bill realized that he was hyperventilating. In his panic his breath was coming out sharp and quick, his head spinning even more while his throat tightened as his heart hammered violently in his chest. Trying to swallow to help the closing of his throat only made it worse as he choked, a small whine he was unable to hold back pouring from passed his lips.

"G-Grunkle Stan I'm s-sorry!" His hands came up to rub at his eye that had become to teary to even see the man sitting barely an arms length away. "I-I didn't mean to, to hurt anyone. Please don't, don't send me away!"

"Send you away?" Stan sounded honestly confused as Bill sobbed into his hands. "Jesus kid, I wouldn't, I'd never..."

Bill let out a soft squeak when a pair of strong arms pulled him into a broad chest. Clinging to the man's shirt he curled up as close as he could to the warmth and comfort.

"I'd never send you away Bill. This is your family and this is where you're staying."

They sat together like that for awhile. Bill wrapped up in his Grunkle's arms and sobbing his heart out over the relief of not being thrown away, of still having a home no matter what had happened. He had no idea what he'd ever done to deserve such a great family, but he'd never been so thankful for it as he was at this moment.

When he'd finally calmed down some, his sobs slowly dying off into quiet little hiccups, Bill pulled himself away from his Grunkle. Rubbing at his red eye and trying to rid the evidence of his tear streaked face, he dropped himself back against the headboard. Even though he hadn't even left the bed since he'd woken up he felt exhausted, emotionally drained to the point where he could barely hold up his own arms. Stan gave a lighthearted chuckle at his pathetic state before his face slowly slipped into a frown.

"You gave us all quiet a fright there kid." He said, obviously working to keep his voice soft. "And it takes a lot to freak me out."

"What happened?" Bill asked, his voice hoarse and scratchy from all of the crying he had done. "Dipper and Mable told me what I had done, but how? That doesn't make any sense, things like this don't just happen Grunkle Stan."

"First things first." Stan said, a scowl set over his face as he crossed his thick arms over his chest. "Whatever that was, that wasn't you."

Obviously Bill had known that, but it felt great to hear that someone else believed it as well.

"You can be a reckless little shit sometimes and be a cocky little pain in my ass," Bill found himself giggling at that as Stan poked him softly in the belly. "but you're not some mindless sadist alright?" Nodding his head at the words Bill waited for the man to continue. "Now, as for how it happened, I don't know. My best guess is that you're possessed kid, and I don't just mean for that one time. Apparently if what Will said was true after he woke up, it works in twelve hour turns. You'll be you for twelve hours, and than he'll do his thing for twelve hours."

"Twelve hours?" Bill repeated, the idea sound even worse the second time. "This is going to happen every day for twelve hours?"

Nodding his head Stan continued. "Yes. I'm sorry I thought he was a ghost at first and tried to get rid of him, but this thing... it's not a ghost Bill."

Considering the fact that Bill hadn't believed in ghosts until a few minutes ago, and despite everything that had happened he still wasn't sure if he did, Bill couldn't imagine what else it could possible be.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice a mere whisper.

"It appears to be some kind of demon."

What? That couldn't be right. Bill couldn't be possessed by a demon, he didn't even believe in demons.

"This ones to strong I.. I'm sorry kid but I can't get rid of it. At least not yet. I'll figure something out but for now the only thing we can do is chain you to the bed in a protective circle."

"Protective circle?"

When Stan motioned to the side of the bed Bill took a look over. He could only see a small portion the peaked out for the side of the bed for a bit before disappearing again under the frame but it appeared to be two circles inside of each other with symbols and signs that he couldn't place or had even seen before. Turning his blue eye back to his Grunkle he found his brows drawing together as he silently asked his questions.

"It's the only thing that I could do to keep him contained without his powers, he could still causes harm to himself though so we decided to chain him to the bed. That part wasn't very much fun." The man admitted, his fingers idly tracing over his forearm as he spoke.

The silence stretched out between them again, but this time it wasn't nearly as comforting as the one before.

"I should have told you kids about this kind of stuff before."

Bill drew his attention back to the side of his Grunkle's face as Stan continued to stare off to the far side of the room.

"I've known about these kinds of things forever and I just thought that if I kept you in the dark about it all it would keep you safe. But it didn't, it just got you into more trouble and now I don't really know what to do next."

Hearing his Grunkle of all people saying that sent a chill down Bill's spine. Stan always knew what to do, no matter what the situation was. He always had a plan and a way to go about everything. To hear that he was so off his game was more unnerving than not being in control of his own body. Stan was his rock, and if he fell Bill didn't know how long he could stand.

As Stan turned back to him Bill forced himself to sit up straighter.

"Believe me though kid. I will figure this out and we will get you help. This isn't going to last forever alright?"

"Okay." Even though the word shook as they passed his lips Stan still smiled down at him. Reaching out to ruffle his hair he than pushed himself to his feet.

"That's all I can tell you for now Bill. It is one in the morning though so I suggest that you get some sleep."

"Wait!" Bill was thankful when Stan came to a stop from turning away but found his face flushing in embarrassment over why he had stopped him. Biting down on his bottom lip he dropped his eyes to his knees while giving a small shake of his head. "Never mind. You can go."

"Go?" Stan muttered lowly to himself, and Bill could feel his sharp gaze watching his every move and breaking it down. "You know what? My beds so far away and I'm to old to want to travel to it this late at night. Think I'll just sleep in Dipper's bed."

Looking up through his bangs Bill watched as the older man made his way to the bed on the other side of the room with a small smile on his face. Just knowing that someone was here already made him feel better. Slowly he lowered himself back into the bed and laid down. While his mind wasn't completely at rest it was tired enough and felt safe enough for his eyes to slip closed and his mind to wander into a dreamless sleep.

(***)

Mable bit down on her lip as she continued to sew the sparkly pink fabric. Every now and than her eyes would dart over to where Dipper was laying next to her, watching carefully as he tossed and turned, muttering this and that under his breath while his hands tightened and relaxed. As she worked the needle through the edges her eyes glanced over to her desk side table, a place that was normally covered in glitter and sparkly stickers now home to a tattered old book that she'd had to pry from Dipper's fingers after he'd fallen asleep.

She had no idea what to think of this whole situation. While it was fascinating it was also scaring the living daylights out of her. Bill hadn't been Bill and with the power he had she didn't even want to think about what he could have done to her brother if she hadn't knocked him out. Something didn't seem right though, and she couldn't help the feeling like there was something that she was missing. It sat deep in her gut and gnawed at the back of her mind. She was afraid that it wasn't just Bill that this was going to happen to.

Turning to watch her brother sleep she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, her touch helping to settle him back into a gentle slumber. Dropping her gaze back to the bright and sparkly pink fabric in her lap she couldn't help the feeling that something bad was going to happen and was waiting just around the corner. She couldn't stop the feeling that the demon possession wasn't going to stop at just Bill.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mabel walked down the stairs quietly. She had been expecting it to be hard to sneak out of her room with Dipper in it, but surprisingly she'd forgotten just what a heavy sleeper he was. If she was going to be completely honest with herself she wasn't really even sure why she was sneaking down extra early to the kitchen. While it was her normal routine with Bill, considering everything that had happened yesterday she wasn't sure if he was even going to be there. If he was though she would have felt so bad about missing it.

Watching her step to make sure that she missed all of the creaky floorboards Mabel tiptoed her way to the kitchen door frame. Peering around the edge she smiled at the blond that was seated at his usual place. Instead of going straight for her chair like she usually did, she came up to Bill's side and wrapped him up in her arms.

He gave a violent jump, but she was quick to sooth him with a few soft coos and gently mummerings. It took him a few more seconds than normal to respond, but ever so slowly he did raise his arms and wrapped them around her waist.

"I was hoping you'd be here." She grinned, carefully pulling out her chair so that the feet wouldn't drag and create a screech that would wake the others.

"Ya well, according to what Grunkle Stan told me I have a few more hours before I'm unsafe around everyone again so..." He didn't finish his thought, just allowing himself to trail off into nothingness as Mabel reached out her hand and placed it on top of his.

For a split moment her gaze dropped down to the bandages that covered his arm. She took in the slight amount of pink that was starting to show through and she wondered if Bill would be okay with being blindfolded so that she could wrap it without him having to see the damage. Pushing the thought to the back of her mind to be revisited later, Mabel smiled at her brother.

"So, what do you want to talk about today?"

Bill gave a small shrug of his shoulders. His bright blue eye didn't look up from the table as he idly traced his fingertips over the shallow gouges in the top. He hadn't been this quiet since Mabel had first started to join him on these early morning downtimes. She could still remember the first time she'd found Bill down in the kitchen at this ungodly hour. She had only been up to get a cup of water and than head back to bed. Instead however she'd come across a very stoic Bill.

For the first week or so they hadn't said anything. She would just sit with him in silence, until they could hear the others start to come to life. Than one morning Bill had just broke down and started talking. He'd talked about anything and everything, his deepest fears, his darkest secrets, his flawlessly concealed rage. He told her everything and anything that he could think of, and Mabel, for once, listened. No interruptions, no advice, no judgment. Sure there were times when she would talk to Bill and they would go over a situation together, but most of the time it was just them talking without needing an answer. She just sat there for months allowing him to vent and rant and rage and cry. Everything that he hid from everyone else Mabel knew about, even his crush on her brother and the thoughts of the things that he wanted to do to the people that had lead to the accident of his eye.

Seeing him sitting in silence reminded her to much of the first few weeks after the incident, but she wasn't going to force him to talk. If there was one thing that she knew about Bill it was that he would talk when he was ready.

In the meantime, Mabel got up and started to boil some water. While she didn't like the stuff and couldn't understand why anyone else would drink it, she did know that Bill loved his tea. After she was done setting up the kettle she moved to the fridge and grabbed her own container of Mabel Juice two point three with added edible glitter. Snatching two cups out of cupboard Mabel pulled out a small tin of teabags as well.

"This just doesn't make any sense." Bill's voice was quiet, like it always was when he first started out.

Mabel was careful not to say anything. She simply continued with her task and kept an ear out for her brother.

"I mean all my life I grew up knowing that things like this don't exist and yet... I'm pretty much living proof that it is. I have no idea what happened though. How does that make any sense? It was my body, my mind. Whatever it was it was seeing things through my eye, shouldn't I be able to recall something like that?"

Realizing that she might want to step in for once Mabel gave a look over her shoulder.

"Not really Bill. Sometimes the mind blocks things out and people can lose days of information and memories. Besides, it wasn't you." Pouring the steaming water into the mug she placed the tea bag in and turned around. "Dipper once told me that people who suffer from that personality disorder thing can't recall what the other personalities do either. Maybe it's like that."

"But Mabel, that can't... I just..." as the words failed him a scowl came to the boy's lips while he took the cup from her hands carefully. She couldn't imagine how frustrating this must have been for him. Bill was somewhat of a control freak when it came to himself. The idea of being out of control for hours must have been grating on his nerves. "If this is going to be a recurring thing how can I trust myself around you guys?"

Mabel placed the mug before Bill as she smiled down at him. Taking a seat herself she rested her elbows on the cool kiss of the table.

"You wouldn't hurt us Bill."

"No, I wouldn't." Bill agreed, his eye darting up to lock with Mabel's. "But as you guys keep reminding me, that other guy is not me."

She had nothing to say to that. He was right, and the reminder alone was enough to set her on edge. If there was one thing that Mabel was good at finding, it was the bright side to any situation, but she didn't have one for this.

Placing down her own cup Mabel gave a small shake of her head. "Look Bill. I have no idea what's going on, but that doesn't mean that we're going to stop looking. We're going to find answers alright? You'll just have to hold on until than. Can you trust me?"

Bill didn't say anything. His brows were furrowed and there was a small frown over his lips. Mabel just gave him a smile, reaching her hand out to be placed on top of his once more. She knew what she was asking, and she knew that this whole thing was going to be a lot for him to have to deal with, she was having a hard time herself, but she needed him to know. She needed him to know that they weren't about to leave him behind or stop trying just because something looked hard or impossible. They were all going to stick together no matter what happened or how long it was going to take.

Ever so slow Bill nodded his head. "Of course I can trust you Mabel." He muttered, turning his hand under her's so he could give it a reassuring squeeze.

"Good!" Mabel grinned, her smile infecting him as he gave her a small one back. Bringing her knees up on her seat she leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss to the forehead. "That's what I like to hear Dorito Head."

At the sound of his nickname Bill frowned once more. Tilting her head to the side as she lowered herself back into her own seat Mabel rested her cheek against her hand.

"What's wrong Bill?"

"It's nothing..." at the look over his face Mabel could tell that those words were the biggest lie of this morning.

The gentle song of the morning birds lazily drifted into the air as they woke from their own slumber, filling the silence between the two. Picking up her cup Mabel brought the item to her lips and took a sip as she waited for Bill to continue with what he was going to say.

"Did I... I mean Will, call you guys by my nicknames for you?"

Oh? Well that was an odd question. Why would he want to know that?

"Probably." Mabel said after a beat of silence. "I mean he kept calling us all these different names so if he said Shooting Star or something I don't think I noticed. Why?"

When she redirected the question back to him she could see how nervous he was getting. He started to pull at his fingers and play with the wrap around his arm and wouldn't meet her gaze.

"It's just that...when I woke up, I call Dipper, Pine Tree, and he snapped." Bill said, his voice almost a whisper as his eyes refused to look up from the table. "I've always called him Pine Tree, that was my code name for him when I first started to, you know, see him in that way." He muttered, the blood running to his face the more he spoke. "And after the whole eye thing happened when I got him that hat I finally had a reason to call him that outside of my head and to his face."

Secretly Mabel had always thought Bill's nickname for her brother was cute. It was like his own subtle way of saying 'I love you' right to Dipper's face without him ever knowing. She was such a sucker for cheesy love, although she did feel bad or Bill for thinking that there was something wrong with himself for being in love with her brother. That aside though it must have hurt him for Dipper to out right deny the nickname now. Being able to call Dipper that meant a lot to him.

"You might want to just...just give it some time." She said after a moment, her fingers lightly tapping the side of her cup and filling the air with a sharp 'tink, tink'. "I'm sure that he'll come around to it again."

Bill let out a long sigh, his own hands wrapped around his mug as his eye slid closed. "Ya, you're right." When his gaze snapped open again and locked with Mabel's she found herself jumping at the sudden change in them. "So, what are we going to do to get out of this mess Shooting Star? Any ideas?"

"Whelp, Grunkle Stan did give us this really neato looking book. Me and Dipper are going to try and figure out what some of it means and go looking in the woods to see if there's anything that we can get for ya in order to help."

"What will Stan and I be doing than?" Bill asked, arching a single brow as he raised his mug to his lips.

"Oh," at this Mabel felt her shoulders roll up to her ears, an awkward smile plastered to her face as she tapped the tips of her fingers together. "Well you see Grunkle Stan has to watch the shop so that it stays in business and we stay fed and cared for and what not but you're going to have to, um, remained tied to the bed while Will's in control."

"That is going to be so boring. Thank god I won't be conscious." Bill muttered darkly, pretty much speaking into his tea as his brows narrowed in a glare.

Mabel couldn't blame him though. Her and Bill had always been busy bodies, the idea that he was going to have to be stationary for twelve hours must have been awful to think about. She would have lost her mind if that was her case.

"It won't last forever Bill." She continued, smacking her fist into her open palm with a determined grin set over her face. "I guarantee you that this problem will be solved before the summer is over!"

At the sound of Bill giving a small chuckle to her enthusiasm, Mabel felt the weight of her own heart lighten. She didn't like it when any member of her family was feeling down, and she was always there to make sure that everyone kept smiling. It was what gave her life purpose and as long as they were happy, than so was she.

They lapsed into silence again, each taking small sips from their beverage of choice. As the sun started to spill into the kitchen and their cups now sat empty on the counter Bill finally turned back to her.

"Wanna make breakfast?"

Seeing the shy smile over her brother's face didn't sit well with her. It reminded her way to much of when their parents had first brought Bill home. He was so quiet and closed off that for awhile she had thought that he would never open up. It had been so many years since than though that it just didn't look right for him to be feeling this nervous around her again. As far as she was concerned Bill was her brother, and not even some freaky possession with a violent streak was going to change that.

"Sure," She grinned, pushing herself out of her chair while she got to her feet, "I'm thinking cupcakes filled with scrambled eggs and icing sugar on top. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like a plan."


End file.
